Retailers

New data shows a 21% jump in fraud attempts during Thanksgiving week, with automated bots and credential stuffing leading the charge.

Tariffs and inflation are pressuring consumers' wallets, but that's not deterring them from spending. It is pushing purchases earlier into the shopping season.

Supplies of the one-cent coin are plummeting. Businesses can't give exact change. Banks are struggling to resupply them. And amid it all, the federal government has said almost nothing.

The founder and CEO of the buy now pay later giant spoke with American Banker about how agentic AI will soon revolutionize the way consumers shop, make purchases and manage their personal finances. That will be accretive for Affirm, especially in a world where agents are making payments on behalf of consumers.

The BNPL lender is launching a three-day shopping event that pushes 0% financing offers to draw more consumers into the app and increase sales volumes for merchants ahead of the holiday season.

Supplies of the one-cent coin have fallen faster than expected, causing headaches for cash businesses and the lenders that provide them with change.

Payment-focused fintechs are acquiring – and keeping – merchants' business thanks to services such as fraud prevention, analytics financing and loyalty tools, according to Capgemini's 2026 World Payments Report. If banks want to compete, they'll need to change their game.

Zelle secured a deal with Alacriti to help Alacriti's bank clients adopt person-to-person payments; Paze teamed up with Canadian payment processor Nuvei to expand merchant use of the wallet.

The credit card issuer renewed and extended its 15-year partnership with Amazon and touted fresh partnerships with Walmart and PayPal as wins, but lowered its full-year guidance due to lower purchase volumes and higher payment rates.

The pending law, which has passed the Assembly and Senate, prohibits food and retail stores from refusing to accept cash payments. Cashless establishments have been prohibited in New York City since 2020.

Prepaid cards are finding new use cases in the hospitality industry, where tip disbursements have traditionally been cumbersome.

Even with its IPO on ice, the Swedish buy now/pay later lender is building a base of high-profile distribution partners.

The Bank of Lithuania contends the U.S. fintech broke anti-money-laundering rules; while British contactless payments hit a record. That and more in the American Banker global payments roundup.

The bank has added Affirm as an option, after adding the fintech's rival Klarna to its merchant network in February.

The account-to-account payment method has become prevalent in countries such as China, India and Brazil, but adoption has been slow in the U.S. and limited to small- and medium-sized businesses. That paradigm is expected to shift amid continued fintech investment.

Improved consumer confidence helped to drive greater use of buy now/pay later as younger generations turned to short-term installment options.

Former employees of the Austin-based City National Bank still recall the 1981 flood that deluged the city and Whole Foods, and they take pride in the lender's role in rescuing what was then a fledgling health food store.

Klarna is looking to get out of one of its key payments businesses after the financial technology giant found the unit created a conflict of interest with peers like Adyen or Stripe.

A $30 billion settlement between Visa Inc., Mastercard Inc. and retailers to cap credit-card swipe fees is likely to be rejected by a federal judge in Brooklyn, a setback in the two decade-long litigation.

Retailers like Walmart, Target and Dollar General are changing the ways they collect payments in person. This, in turn, could influence payment habits, but it is unlikely to slow the overall momentum of digital transactions.